Combined writing-desk and bureau or other piece of furniture



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. STOLTE.

.GOMRINED WRITING DESK AND BUREAU ORI-OTHER PIECE 0I' FURNITURE.

Patented June 1, 1886.

l l l l N. Pneus Pmmumampm whingm, ne'

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. STOLTE.

COMBINED WRITING DESK AND EDEEAU 0E @IEEE PIEDE 0E EUENITUEE No. 342,883. PatentedJune 1, 1886.

@ @77%, ,Magg/ NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY STOL'IE, OF TROY, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED WRITING-DESK AND BUREAU 0R OTHER PIECE 0F FURNITURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,883, dated June l, 1886.

Application filed August 15,1885. Serial No. 174.504. (No model.)

. To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, HENRY STOLTE, of Troy, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combination of a Writing-Desk with a Bureau or other Piece of Furniture, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a special construction of furniture wherebyI am enabled to combine with a bureau, dressing case, cabinet, washstand,sideboard, or similar article a writing-desk, the combination being such as to entirely conceal the desk with the article of furniture when the former is not needed for use.

By way of illustrating the character of my invention, I have shown it as a desk and bureau combined.

Figure I shows the same with the desk concealed in the bureau. Fig. II shows a transverse vertical section of Fig. I. Fig. III shows the desk raised above the bureau, and Figs. IV and V show details.

A is the bureau, though it may be any other piece of upright furniture having sufficient height and sufficient depth from front to rear to afford space at its rear part to receive the rising and falling desk B, the drawers C of the bureau havinga depth from front to rear such as not to interfere with the desk in its movements.

At the back of the bureau may be attached a mirror, as usual, the desk being arranged to rise and fall in front of such mirror.

The appliances for operating the desk to raise it for use and for lowering it out of sight when not in use are as follows: The tongues of tongued guide-bars d on the back of the bureau enter the grooves of guide-bars e on the back of the desk. These serve to steady the desk in its vertical movements. To the lower part ofthe back of the desk are attached cords f g, each of which passes over its respective pulley h or z' on the inside of the bureau, back near its top, and these cords are at their other ends connected to a balancing-Weight, K, and

which may be made of any desired weight, to

easily raise or materially assist in raising the desk when desired. This weight may be made hollow or with a cavity in its top to receive other smaller weights, ifneed be, and by this means the variable weight of the desk caused by the varying weight of books and papers from time to time contained in it can be adjusted as need be, and the desk kept as near as desired in equipoise with the weight.

As apositive means of raising the desk readily,whatever may be the weight of its contents, I have provided the following means, namely: A cord, L, is secured at one end to the back of the bureau, or at any other convenient part, and thence passes downward and through any appropriate guide-eye, m, or guides (or over pulleys, if preferred) at the bottom of the desk, thence upward through a guide-eye, n, or pulley beneath the top of the bureau, and thence through a hole, o, in the front of the bureauframe, its free end having a knob, button, or handle, p. On this cord is hung a sliding weight, q, which serves to pull the cord back to place when the desk is raised up.

As a means for fastening the desk in its raised position, I employ the following devices, viz: On the under side of the top of the bureau (or otherpiece of furniture, as the case may be) I arrange slides o' r', adapted to enter slots or mortises s s made in the desk near its bottom, and when the slides engage with such mortises they prevent the descent of the desk. Each of these slides is operated by a lever, t, fulcrumed at or about its center, and connected by one of its arms to its respective slide r or r', and each of these levers tthas its other arm connected, and it is operated by a slide or sliding pin, u, whose forward end projects through the front of the bureau just beneath the projecting ledge of its cover. By pulling outward this sliding pin u the back ends of slides r r are pushed into the mortises s s', and by pushing inward the pin u the slides are again released from the mortises and the desk can be lowered and concealed within the piece of furniture.

The lid o of the desk is hinged to it near its bottom, (see o* in Fig. 2,) and upon raising the desk to its proper height the lid may be let down, extending considerably beyond the IOO front of the bureau, (or other piece of furnitnre,) to give ample room for the legs and knee of the writer to extend freely under it, and anyv desired inclination may be given to this lid, thus serving as a writing-table, by predetermining the height relatively to the top of the bureau at which the lid shall be hinged to the desk; or there may be two or more sets of inortises s for the slides r, so that the desk may be sustained at different heights, it" desired, so as to vary the inclination of the opened lid.

It will be evident that if the bureau be a long one and the desk a narrow one the bureau-drawers may be made to extend all the way back at the two sides of the desk.

The closed desk may be locked to the bureau, Snc., by any style of lock adapted to the purpose, and its lid may of course be also locked before the desk is lowered, thus afford ing double security.

Among the advantages of my invention may be named the following: The desk may be closed and locked, if desired, before it is lowered and concealed. The nlirror ofthe bureau or cabinet remains undisturbed by the raising or lowering of the book-case or writing-desk. The door of the desk serves the double purpose ofa door and of a writing-table. Thelength of the drawers of an ordinary bureau are not shortenedinorder to combine it withy the desk. 3o

I claiml. In combination with a bureau or dressing-case, a writing-desk arranged to be concealed within and to be vertically raised out of the rear part of the same, and having ahinged front lid which, being turned down when the desk is raised, serves as a writing-table.

2. A bureau or dressing-case having an ordinary stationary mirror at its rear, a set of drawers at its front, and an intermediate counterpoised writing-desk provided with a hinged lid adapted to serve as a writing-table, the desk being arranged to be lowered and concealed Within the case.

3. In combination with the vertically-movable desk within the piece of cabinet-furniture, the pull-cord T, secured to the cabinet or case and extending downward and under the desk, and thence upward through an opening in the cabinet or case, and provided with a Weight, q, arranged to slide on such cord, all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

HENRY STOLTE.

Witnesses: 

